Paradigm in a Post socialist Context

Cathryn Magno

Abstract: Although Azerbaijan’s education sector has experienced intermittent democratization efforts since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, school leadership has remained untouched. This article argues that while Anglo-American models such as transformational and distributed leadership could benefit the schools, based on interview and self-assessment data from a select group of principals in Azerbaijan, such foreign models of leadership may not be readily acceptable in the cultural context of Azerbaijan. Principals in Azerbaijan are well skilled in task management and place lower priority on relationship building and developing visions or strategic plans for their schools, both unsurprising given the legacy of centralized decision making in Soviet times. The article concludes that local principals, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, will need to consider the current strengths and needs of principals in Azerbaijan and the future direction of schooling in Azerbaijan as they develop locally relevant school leadership policy and a first-ever principal preparation program in a country struggling to move toward public-sector accountability and transparency.

总 结：

1、自1991年苏联独立以来，尽管阿塞拜疆的教育部门经历了断断续续的民主化的努力,学校领导一直保持不变。

2、本文认为, 在阿塞拜疆，尽管，英美模式转型和分布式领导力将学校作为根据面试和自我评估数据的主体，外国领导模型可能不容易接受阿塞拜疆的文化背景。

3、在阿塞拜疆，鉴于苏联时期遗留下来的集中决策，校长在任务管理和低优先级关系建设和发展愿景或战略计划方面很熟练。

4、文章结论, 在阿塞拜疆，当地的主体,需要配合教育部考虑当前的优势和需求主体；教育在阿塞拜疆的未来方向是发展本地相关学校领导的国家政策；主要准备项目首次努力走向公共部门的问责和透明度。

来源：European Education. Nov 2012, ISSN 1056–4934, p23-41. 19p. 3Diagrams.